So, guess what? This is it! The final chapter! I just hope everyone has enjoyed this story as much as I have. Thank you all for your amazing review and suggestions, I mean, 101 reviews? That's insane! I hope you love this final chapter as much as I did!

It was the most agonizing thing he had ever been through, and he had been through some pretty painful stuff lately. What the hell did life have against him? Everything always seemed to go against him. It seemed like life was saying, "Oh, you're happy? Hold on, give me a second."

Now he just wanted cry. Some say that people cry when they are so frustrated and unable to convey their emotions with words the only way they can get rid of all those emotions is to cry. Tony hasn't cried yet, but he knew it wouldn't be long before the dam broke.

He was so frustrated with everyone, everything. None of this would have happened if they hadn't dragged him into that stupid meeting even though he technically still wasn't an agent yet since he still had to pass his physical test. It was extremely sensitive information, only a select few were allowed and Tony had been dragged in because he could provide some 'valuable insight'.

Then on his way back to the car to go home to Gibb's house he had been kidnapped. Again.

It wasn't the same people. No, these people were so, so much worse. They kept him in the same place for weeks on top of weeks on top of weeks. He was starving and dehydrated and he reeked. The closet he got to a bath was when they poured cold water over him to wake him up. He would have relished it; if it wasn't for the fact that wherever they had him he was freezing.

With ragged breaths, Tony leaned against the stone wall, huddled in the far corner away from the heavy steel door. His eyes were half closed despite how he tried to keep them open. He was exhausted and had too many wounds then he cared to think about. He was more than a little positive they broke his leg, so running away was immediately out of the question. Probably more than a few of his wounds were infected. He was always cold, even when he was sweating and had the vaguest concern of having a fever.

Most of the time he was too out of it to care. They kept trying to break him, but Tony just laughed. Not a confident laugh, a hysterical laugh. They were so stupid… They didn't realize he was already broken. But despite that, Tony was loyal. That was the only thing no one could break. He would not give them the information, not now, not ever.

These guys were so much more careful covering their tracks then the last guys. They were confident no one was going to find them, and so was Tony. He had been in here for so long, he had past given up hope of being rescued, but he wasn't going to give up any information; the mission was too important and he would not let his team down.

The metal door slammed open and but Tony didn't move, too weak to even jump and the sudden and unexpected noise. A rough hand grabbed his jaw and forced him to look up, which he did, and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

In front of him was a man he hadn't seen before. Probably mid-30, close shaven with a dragon tattoo winding up his neck and around his right ear. "All right, listen up." He snarled into Tony's face. Man, this guy needed a breath mint, but Tony didn't say so. He stayed silent, like he has been since they first brought him here.

"You have been way to much trouble than we thought you were going to be. Haven't spoken a damn word since we got here, so boss man agreed… we'll release you." There was a menacing look in his eyes, the way he spoke, that told Tony he wasn't going to like what came next. "After we rip out your tongue, of course."

Shock slowly started making its way through Tony's numb mind and as the pieces clicked and fell into place, his eyes widened and he clamped his mouth shut, back into the corner as much as he could. No no no they couldn't be serious. But one look into this man's told Tony that they weren't kidding around.

The man stood up and back away and two men grabbed his arms, holding him so firmly in place Tony couldn't even move if he tried.

The tattooed man pulled something metal out of his jacket, and it looked exactly like one would think you would use to rip someone's tongue out. Fear coursed through his veins and although Tony knew it was useless, he still struggled, weakly clinging to the false hope that this was all a nightmare, that this wouldn't happen.

The tattooed man bent down, his eyes dark and menacing and empty of everything that made someone human. He worked Tony's jaws open and clamped the metal tongs around his tongue. The metal was cold and terror filled every inch of Tony. He could taste salt in his mouth, he hadn't realized he had started crying.

Then the man jerked. Hard.

A scream came from Tony. No, it wasn't a scream. It was the most primal sound of agony a person could make. Not a scream of fear or pain, but as if something deep inside of him was releasing this awful cry of pure agony. He was sobbing in between his cries, and as soon as it started, it was over.

Don't get him wrong, the pain was mind-numbing and he was starting to think death would have been kinder than this. His mouth was full of blood, he was choking on it, convinced he would die of blood loss before they took him to wherever to let him slow die.

Everything was a sort of blur. He could hear people yelling and someone forcing his mouth open again, placing something in it. He didn't object, couldn't have if he wanted to. His throat was hoarse from screaming, and tears had stopped coming from his eyes, as if he had cried them all out.

His gaze shifted slowly all over the room, unable to focus on anything until it slid to the floor. There. His tongue was sitting on the cold, rock floor. Bloodied and unrecognizable, he could feel another scream rising up inside of him.

Then someone was shaking him, shaking his body and yelling in his ear. "Tony! TONY!"

There was an awful noise. He remembered hearing a noise like that down in his time as a beat-cop. He had been patrolling the streets and he heard the scream come from the alley. When he went there, it was a sight forever engrained into his head.

It had been some sort of cult, real messed up people. They had ripped this man's libs off, like in the medieval ages. It was the worst thing Tony had ever seen in his life and he had wished he would never see anything like that again.

"Tony!"

Slowly, Tony became more aware. He realized he was the one screaming, he was thrashing around in his bed, and for a moment he was confused. Then it all came back, the dream, the horror, the pain, and he started screaming again, panic running through him. Someone had his arms and legs pinned down against the bed and Tony squeezed his eyes shut. "Let me go!" he screamed, thrashing against the people holding him down.

"Tony." A soft voice sounded near his right side. Ziva's voice.

Slowly, Tony stopped struggling and opened his eyes. Ziva was hovering over him, holding down his arms with concern and fear in her eyes. "Tony, are you back with us?"

"Ziva." He croaked and as soon as Ziva let go of his arms, he reached up and hugged her, pressing his face against her soft hair. He inhaled the scent, sweat and the faint smell of gunpowder and lilacs. He felt Ziva hug him back, and whoever was holding his feet let go, allowing Tony to sit up in his bed. He came to the realization that he was in his room, in Gibbs' house.

He saw Gibbs standing at the foot of the bed, it was too dark to see his face but Tony could practically feel the worry coming off of him.

"You're okay, Tony." Ziva whispered, and she pulled back from the hug, putting her hands on his shoulders firmly. She ran her hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. "You're okay."

"It was awful Ziva." He whispered hoarsely. Damn, his throat felt like sandpaper. He opened his mouth to save more but Ziva cut him off. "No, don't." She stared down at him. "We will always be here for you, Tony. No matter what."

Tony took a deep breath and slowly nodded. She was right. His team would always have his back, that much he knew. "Thank you." He murmured and then switched his gaze over to where Gibbs was standing. "Thank you."

AND THANK YOU! This has been one hell of a roller-coaster, and I am so glad I could share it with you. I hope everyone enjoyed my story, and a special thank you to everyone who has been following this story since the very beginning. It took a while, longer than I planned, but it's finished, it's done, and I must say, I have never felt more accomplished. I love you guys, thank you sso much for your support with this story! Once again, I hoped you enjoyed it! One last review of your thoughts? :) And don't worry, there will be more Tony stories to come!